Beef and Guinness Pie

Keeping it short and sweet... Happy St Patrick's Day to one and all.

Beef and Guinness Pie

There is a deep richness in flavour that comes from the Guinness and enriches everything else without overpowering it.

Serves 4

500g steak pieces

2 heaped tablespoons plain flour

Sea salt

Black pepper

1 large onion

2 carrots

2 parsnips

3 sticks celery

Rapeseed oil

1 500ml can of Guinness

1 pack of puff pastry

1 egg beaten

Method

Pat-dry the steak pieces with kitchen paper. On a side plate add the flour and season it with a generous pinch of sea salt and black pepper, roll the steak pieces in the seasoned flour until fully covered in a good coating, shake of any access flour.

Peel and chop the onion, carrots and parsnips and wash and chop the celery, set aside.

In a large saucepan heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over a high heat, add the steak pieces in small batches to brown them all over before removing with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper. When all the neat is browned carefully give the saucepan a wipe down with kitchen paper and return to a medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil and add the onion. Fry the onion until softened but not coloured then add in the carrots, parsnips and celery. Fry these off for 8-10 mins then add the beef back in along with all the Guinness.

Bring the saucepan to the boil then reduce down to a steady simmer for 45 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Carefully pour the contents of the saucepan into an oven proof dish. Roll out the puff pastry and cover the dish with it, pressing around the edges and trimming off the access. Pierce a few times with a sharp knife and brush over the beaten egg to give it colour.

Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 mins until the pastry is golden and delicious.

Serve with some mashed potatoes of your choice for a warm hearty meal.

Cookery Demonstration and more

I know I'm always saying it but it has been very busy times...
I managed to get out into the garden yesterday after 2 days of dry weather. I was very sad to do it but the greenhouse... well what was left of it... had to be dismantled. It got destroyed in the last storm with only one pane of glass surviving. I gathered up all the broken glass, took apart the frame and tidied what was to be tidied, the beds where shoveled into the wheelbarrow and used to top up my raised beds at the bottom of the garden. I am left now with a concrete slab which, for this year anyway, will be used for my bench to have my morning coffee (in better weather) and I will build some basic timber boxes and grow some  salad veg in them. This year my front porch will host my tomato, chilli and cucumber growing out of grow bags... It is a fine suntrap for the first half of the day and accumulates a lot of heat, so it will be a decent substitute for the growing season ahead. I'm very sad to see the greenhouse go but replacing the glass alone would have cost the guts of a brand new one and neither of what I can afford at the moment.

Dismantling the greenhouse

Concrete slab which will be cleaned up

Last Saturday the 1st March I done a cookery demonstration in The Ennis Book Shop. I really enjoyed it, as daunting as it first seemed when I started, the place filled up with people and I was in my element. I cooked up 5.... yes 5 recipes from the book all within 1 hour 20 mins. And was pleased to say that everyone got a taster of everything going.

A huge thank you to Brendan Mc Enery for fab photos again

Recipes I cooked:

Beetroot, black pudding and pomegranate salad

Sugar crusted lamb cutlets and red wine jus

Pan fried potatoes with rosemary and garlic

Chicken Kashmiri

After eight cheesecake

Links to all recipes above, just click onto each one... and I have the only one without a link down below.

Sugar Crusted Lamb Cutlets with a Red Wine Jus

I just love lamb cutlets and the caramelised fatty bits from grilling these bad boys are just to die for. Meat on the bone is always tastier and these cutlets with the richness from the jus leave you wanting more and more. Serve with some steamed baby potatoes or a simple side salad.

Serves 2

4 lamb cutlets

2 tablespoons of soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon of English mustard powder

For the Jus

1 full glass of red wine

1 sprig of rosemary

1 garlic clove peeled

A splash of soy sauce

A splash of balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon of honey

Method

Pat dry the cutlets with kitchen paper (this helps the other ingredients to stick) and set aside. On a plate or board sprinkle the soft brown sugar and mustard powder now roll the chops in it, pushing down and getting a good even layer all the way around.

Place the coated cutlets under a preheated grill on a high heat; grill them for 5-7 mins on either side.

In the meantime pour the glass of wine in a small pan and add the rosemary and garlic; place it on a high heat and reduce the wine by half. Then add the soy, balsamic and the honey and stir threw. Reduce another bit until it coats the back of a spoon; remove the rosemary and garlic before serving.